Arthur's Live Not Real Music Festival
Synopsis by George4Browne - My first ever overly-long review. Hope you guys enjoy it! Comments by: George4Browne HFein, and Dave, with a couple of points by Dave thrown into the review as well.. e of points by Dave thrown into the review as well.. ---- The episode opens with some sort of loud noise banging throughout the Read household. D.W. cries, "What's that noise!?" We see Mom working at her computer on a spreadsheet, and she and D.W. end up asking each other, "What's that noise!?" D.W. decides to play her investigator role, like she does in #50202 - "Nerves of Steal". "I bet I know what it is!" She wanders into the kitchen, only to find Pal sleeping peacefully in his basket, apparently not disturbed by the noise. "No. Rats. I was sure it was the dog's stomach," laments D.W.. Pal makes an upset noise, gives D.W. a sort of dirty look, and flops over to go back to sleep. In my opinion, this is one of D.W.'s biggest failings. I like her, but she has never truly conceded Pal's intelligence, even though he's quite a smart dog. We now see D.W. standing at the basement door. The noise is louder now and D.W. yells, "Mom! It's in the basement!" The next thing we see is her, about halfway down the stairs. She's looking at Buster, who's bobbing his head back and forth, with his hand covering his mouth. Turns out that he's the source of the noise! For you youngsters reading, Buster's puffing and blowing brings back memories of early rap music from the 1980s... back then, being able to make "humanoid upbeat" sounds was a valuable skill. The "Fat Boys" were one such example of this groundbreaking style of music. He's behind a large cardboard box, which is obviously upside-down because the word "up" is upside-down at the bottom. A square hole is cut out of it, and there are painted/drawn "buttons," serving as T.V. controls. Arthur's standing in front of a camera. Note the brand name on the box: Elbozonic. The Read's real television's an Elbozonic -- seen in'' '#30202 - "I'd Rather Read It Myself".At this point, D.W. asks them what they're doing. Arthur explains that they're making a music show, and after Buster finishes with his music/noise... Buster: I'm a video... buboom pabadaboom buh, and ah'm almost over! Arthur declares, "That was 'Buster Jam' with, 'Hey, What's For Dinner!?' Our next video..." D.W. stops him at this point. They get into an argument, D.W.'s basic point being that none of this is real, and Arthur shooting back that make-believe can be fun. D.W. points out their TV doesn't even look real, and that the video camera isn't even turned on. Arthur: That's Dad's old camera! It doesn't work! Arthur warned D.W. not to mess with Dad's video camera at the beginning of #11102 - "D.W.'s Baby". Guess she didn't listen and it ended up broken. Typical! :D He says that you can use your imagination to see the music videos. D.W.: If this is a trick, I'm telling .Arthur: No trick! Here they come! Our big music videos! ---- ---- Our first song for today is "Library Card." A music with a rap beat begins playing, and we see shots with various parts of the gang. They're all headed towards the library, library cards with their photographs on them in tow. (hear Arthur - Library Card.mp3) ''Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card! '' Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card ''Ms. Turner appears, and opens the front door for the gang that's amassed. A lot of people are in attendance, even D.W. and Emily. Ms. (Paige) Turner says the following as she lets the eager children in: Come on inside, we've got everything you need '' There's plenty to do or you can just sit and read! ''Muffy, at a desk with a book: '' ''This book explains how to make paper planes Arthur, pointing to a display: This contour map can show you mountain range terrains The following are vividly demonstrated by Brain, and then Buster: Brain: Fly to the moon, explore the ocean floor '' Buster: Find out which one's the tiller and which one is the oar ''Fern pulls a book from the shelves. Here's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" and "Half Magic", Tibbles, flying through the air: "Hop on Pop", "The Fox in Socks" George, with a crowd around him: ...and books on doing card tricks! Now we have what could referred to as the chorus. It's several of the gang swaying back and forth on what seems to be some sort of stage. In order, from left to right: Jenna, Francine, George, Arthur, Sue Ellen, Buster, Fern, Brain, Binky, Muffy Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card! (Ms. Turner: That's right!) Having fun isn't hard when you've got a library card! Francine appears, and shakes several sports items out of a book: Books on baseball, hockey, and soccer''Ratburn appears, holding up a door knocker in his likeness: ''And even how to build yourself a cool doorknocker Arthur's standing in the middle of an aisle of the library. Brain's at a nearby bookshelf, looking at book: I could stay in this place for hours and hours Binky, flashing a book with a flower on the front: Binky: I like books with pictures of lots of pretty flowers! This causes a crowd consisting of Buster, Brain, Arthur, Muffy, and Francine to scramble over to where Binky's sitting. They all have utterly aghast expressions on their faces and IMHO Arthur's is the funniest of all. Binky quickly comes up with: Binky: ...being crushed by a giant pterodactyl! Francine and Arthur are together, and Francine tosses a book into a stack that Arthur's carrying. Arthur, followed by Francine, sing the next two lines. Jules Verne, H.G. Wells, and Ray Bradbury '' You can take 'em home so you don't have to read 'em in a hurry ''Back to the dancing-on-a-stage bit... ''- Chorus -''''Having Fun!'' Everyone raises their hands, like something out of " Fame" The next piece for our enjoyment is 'Jekyll and Hyde', performed by Brain. As the song opens, a piece of classical music plays, which, being no music expert, I can't identify by name. (Perhaps someone can help?) (hear the Jekyll and Hyde.song) Brain is at the library. He pulls a book from the shelf. It's "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." One day I went to the library '' I found this book --- it was great! ''We see him leaving the library, and the scene switches to him in bed at home, reading in bed. It was so cool I couldn't put it down '' Even when it got pretty late. We're taken to a lab filled with bubbling concoctions. There's one with eyeballs in a green liquid, and another bubbling red liquid. Brain's there, in a lab coat. The music has taken a darker tone: ''That night I had a scary dream '' I mixed my own secret potion Added dirt, a bit of sludge, some eyes of flies And a tiny dab of suntan lotion Brain drinks the potion and then throws the container it was in onto the floor, shattering it to pieces: ''I started shaking! '' My legs were quaking! My stomach aching! My brain was breaking! As Brain explains this, first his head becomes two earthworms, then he transforms into this evil green creature with a demonic parrot head. Then he becomes human looking (well, evil-persona --Jeriah02)again, but he has an evil green face, one big eye, one small eye, and strandy hair and he's wearing a cape and a magician's hat. Jekyll-Brain looks a bit like how Binky imagined his evil cohort looking in #30601 - "Binky Rules". Jekyll-Brain is at a restaurant, eating a sandwich of spaghetti and eyeballs: ''Started turning green, '' Feeling mean, It was like in that story. I was acting strange, Quite deranged, It was pure allegory. At this point, the classical-type music resumes, and the scene switches to (normal-looking) Brain sitting in a chair, at a dictionary, with a white curtain behind him. He provides us with a definition of allegory: ''ALLEGORY: A story where characters '' stand for abstract ideas. For example: Good and Evil. I'll never forget what allegory means again. Now we get what could be dubbed the chorus of the song (sung twice). The music changes again, and we see Brain, swaying back and forth on a stage, switching between his Jekyll (Brain) and Hyde looks: ''(Chorus) Cause I was: Jekyll, Jekyll, Hyde Jekyll Hyde, Hyde Jekyll Jekyll, Jekyll, Hyde Jekyll, Hyde! The music switches to classical again. We see Brain waking up, the book upside-down and open on his stomach. He gets up, puts the book under his bed, and begins to walk away... When I awoke I was me again '' I hid the book out of sight''The temptation proves to be too much: It was so cool I couldn't keep away '' So I took it out again that night. ''The scene switches to a large Brain head, superimposed over Elwood City School. (Gigantic superimposed heads are Arthur shorthand for scary evilness -- there was a big Sue Ellen head in #12101 - "Sue Ellen Moves In") It zooms into Ratburn's class. We see Ratburn first, holding a list, with four names checked off: Binky, Molly, Fern, and Sue Ellen. And then I dreamed we had this test in school '' I gotta say it was weird. ''Indeed, the test is weird. Everyone's holding red and white flags, and Buster, of all people (animals? animal-people? anthromorphic animal people? furries?) is taking part in the extra credit project. We had to give the answers in semaphore '' And for extra credit grow a beard. ''- Chorus -''Now Brain's standing in front of a mirror. He looks weary and haggard. He tosses the potion into a nearly full circular trash can, but nonetheless changes into Hyde again, in front of the mirror... ''This was too much I simply had to stop '' I threw that potion away (potion away) But it didn't matter if I drank the stuff, I just kept on changing anyway! (changing anyway) ''Now I was: ''- Chorus -'' We see Brain, back at his bed again. He picks up the book and opens it, and a paper slip with the due date on it falls out: Just when it seemed there was no way out I saw the book was overdue! The scene switches to the library. We see Mrs. Turner and the book on the desk. Brain's about to return the book, but lightning strikes... The book lady said, "Are you returning?" '' I thought and I said "No! Renew!!!!!!" ''At my library, if you had a book that was overdue, you couldn't renew it. At least, that used to be the policy. I haven't been to my library recently and as a result, I'm finding it hard to have fun. ---- Whew! That was quite a number. Now for something amusing. This next song is set to several pieces of classical music. Among the identifiable pieces are Mozart's "Allegro" (which, I don't know) and another is Liszt's Hungarian Rhapsody #2. As for the others, e-mail me if you know. The footage for this song and the next one is all clips from old episodes. One of the reasons I held back on reviewing this one for such a long time was that trying to reference them all would have been a pain... as it stands, George4Browne and I haven't referenced every single one. Anyone feel like doing so? Go ahead. :) (hear Dad's song "Leftovers Goulash") The song opens with Dad attempting to balance a huge load of trays. D.W. tries to help him to gain his balance, but ends up sending a plate of spaghetti & meatballs flying--- to land on Arthur's head. (#10401 - "D.W.'s Imaginary Friend".) In the first part of the song, we see Arthur's Dad, trying to cook in a number of ways. He grills, bakes, stirs, etc. We also see Arthur sitting at a table with a strange sandwich, and the ubiquitous glass of milk. My Dad's a chef, '' You think that's great? Just try and guess What's on your plate! ''In the next part, we see Dad at a mixing bowl, which then pans out to a table with a number of baked delights. We see Arthur swallowing an entire piece of cake -- a scene taken from #12402- "D.W. Gets Lost". He mixes things, '' And then he bakes, Why can't he stick To chocolate cakes? ''We spin out from Arthur to a scene with him and his friends. These include the Brain, Buster, and Francine, and they're all eating ice cream. Francine's got vanilla, Brain's doing strawberry, Buster has nacho, and Arthur, chocolate... the nacho ice cream means this is a clip from #20401 - "Arthur Makes a Movie". We see a shot of the interior of a chocolate factory... this came from Arthur's imagination, and not reality: #21201 - "Arthur's Faraway Friend". I want some ice cream, '' Chocolate would be good. Ice cream that tastes... just like it should Okay, now this is kind of crazy. We see aliens now, who are scooping what looks like vanilla ice cream from a bowl... this, of course is from #12201 - "D.W.'s Snow Mystery". We also see Buster (of all people) being revolted by spinach, and Buster in surgical gear, handling an ice-cream cone containing--- well, who knows what... This is a clip from #12601 - "My Dad, the Garbage Man". ''Not broccoli, turkey or a lima bean '' It's got to taste like ice cream! ''Now we switch back to Arthur's house, where Dad is scooping okra of all things -- #20202 - "Arthur's Lucky Pencil". D.W. is disgusted as she holds up a fish, a scene taken from #20301- "D.W. The Picky Eater". We're also treated to Baby Kate, who's smearing cake all over her face. D.W. vomits up the spinach sandwich -- again, #20301- "D.W. The Picky Eater". You have to try '' My latest treat! A jellied fish Inside a beet! 'Yuck!' Dad, who's stirring up some more stew at the stove is offering another tasty delight, his 'garlic eels', which is a plate of moving fish. Actually, the wiggling squirmy fish on a plate are from the beginning of#12502 - "Arthur Cleans Up" -- a "Fisherman's Breakfast". ''Why should we eat '' The same old meals? Wait till you taste My garlic eels! Now we have several shots of different types of pies, and Dad cooking. ''There are so many things to make! '' A custard soup, a liver cake A curry pie, with prunes and squash! How 'bout Leftovers Goulash? Hey! ''Okay, the next bit is D.W., and there's an obvious "Crazy Bus" references, as well as another reference to #20301- "D.W. The Picky Eater". The flying jello is from #20802 - "The Big Blow-Up" Nothing brown, '' And nothing soupy Nothing slipp'ry And nothing gloopy! ''Now there's even more food shots, and the scene with Arthur and D.W. racing to eat grapes from #11101- "Arthur's Baby". Nothing mashed And nothing steamed And nothing runny, with eyes or feet or '' that smells or wiggles when you touch it or with crusts! And nothing creamed! ''Okay, now D.W.'s going to rant about fish. And of course, she has a lot to say about this, being so down on fish from #20301- "D.W., The Picky Eater". This smells like fish! '' I can't stand fish! I can't believe this cookie smells like fish! Like chocolate fish! Why would anybody eat a cookie fish? ''Switching now to all sorts of scenes of food, including the cookies-into-garbage bit from #22001 - "How the Cookie Crumbles" intermixed with scenes of D.W. and Arthur, including D.W. being disgusted by a lobster from #11501 - "Arthur's Family Vacation". The are so many things to make! (It tastes like fish! I want some ice cream!) A custard soup, a liver cake (I can't stand fish! I want some ice cream!) A curry pie, with prunes and squash! How 'bout Leftovers Goulash? Hey! Going to something really disgusting now, suffice to say it's more of Dad, cooking and mixing his gruel and slop. Take a pot '' And add a lot Of codfish mash and kidney hash' ''Let's add some snails and catfish tails '' Some brains and feet Can't wait to eat! ''A sloppy scoop '' Of runny gloop A squid on toast A rhubarb roast ''Some tofu stew '' With extra goo Leftover squash It's called goulash! Hey! Finally, we see Arthur and D.W., looking at some awful cookies. They stick out their tongues, in final protest: ''We're not hungry anymore! '' Hey! ---- Here's an old classic, Mr. Ratburn's "Homework." Diligent students, prepare yourself for the ultimate torture. The song opens with what my television's captions describe as a quartet singing in four-part harmony. We see kids around Elwood City School. Buster & Arthur enter Ratburn's class, and the bell rings. Ratburn's there, and... he's singing. Buster makes attempts to interrupt, but it isn't working: (''hear the "Homework"song) Ratburn: Class, you really worked hard today.''He's passing out tests, and then he goes to his desk. ''Buster: You can say that again! '''Ratburn: Okay. '' Class, you really worked hard today. Ratburn opens a briefcase. Arthur & Buster look excited. They quickly deflate as he begins passing back math quizzes. Buster is very dejected, his ears are drooping. Everyone is aghast. (Dave -- I'm fairly sure this is from #10101 - "Arthur's Eyes", not having it on video right now, I'm not sure. But if that's the case, then that's Mr. Marco handing the tests out, not Ratburn. Oh well. :) ). We get to see Ratburn, plotting in secret. Now that the school day is through '' I've got something special for you''Everyone's just sort of wide-eyed as he unfolds what their 'prize' is. Buster: I hope it's ice cream!'' (Chorus) Ratburn: Just a little homework tonight, Just a little homework tonight... Ratburn now outlines a homework plan that would break even the top of the class. Ratburn has his briefcase again. He returns papers. Buster's now very bummed out because he received a D. ''- Chorus - '' (First line interrupted by Buster's "That's a lot of homework!") Binky is smirking and shaking his head. More of the same: clips of various scenes of homework & Buster falling asleep, then being reawakened by a squirting duck. Mr. Ratburn: Buster, pay attention. Ratburn comes out of a coffin, fully dressed in vampire attire. (#10201 - "Arthur and the Real Mr. Ratburn") Buster: Why-i-i-i-...''Buster breaks down at the next line. ''Ratburn: There's a quiz tomorrow! Buster: I think I'm going to die-i-i-i.... We're left with shots of everyone in their rooms, doing homework (No, not Buster. He's singing and dancing, and having a good time!) It's getting late in Elwood City. Lights go out. (This last clip's out of#21102 - "Buster Hits the Books".) Just a little homework tonight... Just a little homework tonight... Just a little homework tonight... ---- No, you're not mistaken. That beat you're hearing is "Library Card." It's baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack: ''- Chorus -''Prunella is shown as a da Vinci painting, and Haney's reading a book with a small brown dog: Prunella: Paintings by Leonardo, Rembrandt, and Picasso Mr. Haney: Confidentially, I'm reading, "Go, Dog, Go." Buster provides the next bit. He's in various jungle scenes: There's "The Giving Tree" and "Jumanji" and "Where the Wild Things Are" Yeah, like you'd ever see Buster reading any of those... Now we see D.W., then are taken to a shot of Arthur squashed into a large jar. D.W.: ...And a book on why you shouldn't '' Keep your brother in a jar! ''Arthur: Let me out! Francine, Arthur and Buster (in order): All the thoughts and dreams of people throughout history... Arthur flashes his library card now--- with his picture on it! His library card is #2101708. Save this for future reference, there's going to be a quiz someday. We've seen Francine's card too -- the first number was obscured, but the rest of the number is ...104403. Probably it starts with 2. I guess someday card numbers will probably be obsolete. We'll all just be fingerprinted or something. My card number's 1006031288109 if anyone cares. Not that it'll do you any good without my pin number, and that's a closely guarded state secret. Arthur: .And all you need's this little card to borrow 'em for free! '- Chorus -'' D.W. does cartwheels. She then makes a statement which is right on. ''There's storytime and lessons on how to use computers '' But there can't be any classes on how to make me cuter... ''Francine continues to list more examples of the fantastic types of multimedia which may be found at libraries: Puppet shows and movies, '' ''the cool things never end... Mrs. Turner provides some advice. D.W., next to her, has a question: And don't forget the Dewey Decimal System is your friend! '' ''(Who's Dewey?)''The crowd repeats Mrs. Turner's advice. They're blocked out by D.W.. ''And don't forget the Dewey Decimal System is your friend! (Who's Dewey?)'' One, two, three, four...''- Chorus - (x 2)' (interrupted twice by "Who's Dewey?") We get to see crowds, and fireworks, and the entire gang. This segment ends with a shot of loads and loads of people, apparently all in the library. Note that apparently the " Tough Customers" like reading too. The big group shot was used in a montage in the ''1999-2000 Emmy Awards. Note that there's a fair number of anonymous filler people in the shot. D.W. covers the screen in the front of the library. D.W.: Who is Dewey?!!!!!! ---- Back to reality. We finally flip back to Arthur and Buster, at the fake television. Arthur: So what did you think?Buster: Pretty good for two kids and a cardboard T.V., huh? D.W.: It was okay for the basement. But it would never work on real T.V.! Buster pulls down "The End." The "Library Card" beat resumes, but D.W. pops up in front of "The End" graphic. She has one last piece of business. "By the way, who's Dewey?" Yes, it's obviously a disappointment that there are many stock scenes used out of context to the songs, especially in the one about Dad's cooking. It could be that economics dictated this be done. However, I was struck by Luke Reid's egnimatic,energetic singing voice in the Brain's Jekyll-and-Hyde song. It's almost as if the Brain's usual mild-mannered, rather dull demeanor represents the good doctor, and his real personality comes out when transformed to Hyde. It was good to see Alan finally 'break loose', especially in front of Ms. Paige Turner. As you can guess, I've got a lot to talk about here. First, thank you to my library for providing "Arthur" materials for checkout. You can find their website at http://www.dayton.lib.oh.us. I was able to get a copy of both the "Arthur" tape and "Arthur's Music Video" from them. Having said that, go buy the CD and the video, or just read the rave reviews. Some people think that this episode was the finally turning point for "Arthur." 'Singing (Library Card)' is cited twice at www.jumpingtheshark.com. One person writes: 'I love this show. My kids love it. But there was one segment where all they did was sing the entire 15-minute section of the episode. Then a "CD"? Oh no.' However, I feel this episode was pretty decent in terms of Arthur standards, and the music was enjoyable as well. Another person states: i'm forteen and i love this show but i hated the episode when they were all singing,"having funi isn't hard when you've got a library card!" library's aren't that much fun and that song get's stuck in your head almost as fast as that dr. jekell and mr hyde song that the brain was singing. Honestly, I think this guy's a bit of a moron, he can't even spell. Yes, observant "Arthur" viewers, you're correct in that some of these songs were shortened from their versions on the CD. In "Homework" the verse starting with "Write a report on global warming" is removed. An extra chorus part is removed at the end from "Jekyll and Hyde." I believe "Leftovers Goulash" is completely intact, as well as "Library Card." Library Card Okay, some comments and criticisms on this one. H.G. Wells? Jules Verne? Ray Bradbury? Are kids Arthur's age really reading much of their stuff? I don't think so. "Half Magic" by Edward Eager is quite a good book though, and at a reading level Arthur could handle, if you can find it. Also, Arthur flashes a library card with his picture on it, but in 40101- D.W.'s Library Card, D.W.'s sporting this doofy library card with a picture of another card on it with wings. This show of this is also on the Seasons 4-8 section of the "Arthur" website. Jekyll & Hyde Trouble! I like this song. That said, here we go. I think some of the laboratory and more grossish stuff probably could have been cut out. This is a kids show--- isn't it? ;) More grumbling about the Elwood City library, obviously there's some sort of upgrade by D.W.'s Library Card because in this episode a slip of paper falls out of the book, reminding Brain that it's overdue, but in D.W.'s Library Card, Arthur says that the paper slips are obsolete. Leftovers Goulash I couldn't survive in Arthur's household. Pal would have to be my savior. Excellent setup, I wonder how long it took them to do all this. Maybe Dad should do as Arthur suggests, and stick to chocolate cakes, it would seem that they were such a big hit for him in #30702 - "Dad's Dessert Dilemma". I'm certainly not interested in a "rhubarb roast" or "tofu stew." These flashbacks come from Seasons 1-2, see http://www.pbs.org/parents/arthur/schedule/ep_desc1_3.html Homework Arthur comments on the CD insert: "We even let Mr. Ratburn sing, because we thought when he was singing he couldn't think about giving us homework." Oh well, so much for that thought. Ratburn's usually not *this* strict with the homework, it's usually just the one report or something. Still, the outrageousness of it is pretty funny. I think Buster's antics are great in this song. Oh -- and I'd be scared too if I came into one of my classes and my teacher was singing like that. The Musical Arthur - Cassette, CD, and Television Well, like it or grumble about it, it's obvious that there's all sorts of music associated with the "Arthur" series. The episodes (except of course for the music episodes) are all set to background music, some of which I think is quite catchy. I guess a number of "Arthur" episodes could be deemed "music" episodes; along with this one there's also: *#20602 - "Play it Again, D.W." *#20801 - "Arthur vs. the Piano" *#30102 - "The Ballad of Buster Baxter" *#30601/02 - "Binky Rules/Meet Binky" *#41001- "My Music Rules" I think that's everything. Some of the songs from this episode are available in the official PBS Arthur site on the Music Box page. This page also includes some stuff from the CD that isn't in this episode. You need Shockwave to use this. If you're having trouble figuring out the lyrics to some of the songs not in this review, try the Songbook . It has lyrics for everything on the Music Box page. You can also find out about Arthur's "other CD", the Christmas CD, on Amazon's site, here. Overall, it's mediocre, but there are a couple songs I really liked. I gave it four stars, and corrected the other reviewers who can't seem to figure out how to read a CD insert--- otherwise they would know that it's Fern and not D.W. who sings "Silent Night" on this CD. Oh, and here's a couple of interesting bits about "Here We Come A Wassailing" on the Christmas CD, a song I had never heard before, but quite like--- *Christmas Traditions: The Wassail Bowl *Christmas Carols-The Wassail Song It would seem there's no shortage of versions of this. I think the one on the CD serves pretty well though. I guess that's about all I have to say. Thanks for sticking around -- if you're still here. Not much else to say... :) Personally, I think using lots of old clips (especially using them out of context) is a bit like cheating -- I'd have liked to have had new footage for these videos. Then again, the songs chosen lend themselves to it. Me, I'd have liked to have seen D.W.'s "Go To Sleep" off of the CD done as a video, but that's just me.